Sixmilebridge 2-8 St. Joseph’s Doora Barefield 1-12

A sun drenched Cusack Park Ennis, hosted Sixmilebridge and St.Joseph’s Doora Barefield for this much anticipated Under 15A Hurling Final. Given the battles these two teams have had over the last few years it was always going to be too close to call and this match was no different. D/B started by far the sharper of the two teams and were a point up in the first minute with a good strike from Eoghan Talty. A minute later Brian Hoey won possession in the corner and made a run at goal hitting a blinding shot only to be met with an excellent save from Cian Fawl in the ‘Bridge goal. D/B kept up the pressure with Michael Nash putting them 2 points clear on 3 minutes.

The ‘Bridge defence was under severe early pressure and their cause was not being helped by a ‘Bridge forward line who looked very lethargic. Luke O Halloran finally got the ‘Bridge up and running with a pointed free 9 minutes in but it was D/B who were dictating matters all over the field with Morgan Lahiffe pointing from a placed ball out on the side line a minute later. O’Halloran pointed from another free to keep the ‘Bridge in touch but D/B dominance finally came to a head when they worked the ball into Cian Moloney who turned and made a run at the ‘Bridge Goal and batted the sliotar to back of the net. It didn’t get much better over the next ten minutes with Morgan Lahiffe scoring three more points from frees as the ‘Bridge were being forced to concede such was the pressure they were under. Luke O Halloran did get two points back for the ‘Bridge but Eoghan Talty and Matthew Power finished the scoring for the half giving D/B a very commanding lead at half time of 1-8 to 0-4 and they were full value for it.

The ‘Bridge made changes at the interval both with personnel and positional in an effort to turn this match. They moved Oisin Breen to corner back, Noel Flynn to midfield, Conor Murphy on in wing forward, and Dara Casey moving into the corner forward position. At first it didn’t make much difference as D/B carried on from where they left off in the first half scoring the first two points of the half stretching their lead to nine points and leaving the ‘Bridge with a mountain to climb. Evan Murphy pulled two more back for the ‘Bridge the first being a 70 metre free. The ‘Bridge were now starting to show a bit more fight and even though D/B would score the next two points they wouldn’t score again in this game as the ‘Bridge lads slowly but surely pulled them back in.

Thirteen minutes in Oisin Breen sent a high long ball into the ‘Bridge forwards which broke kindly for David Kennedy and he ran at the D/B goal and while his first shot was saved he pulled first time into the back of the D/B net. The next ten minutes were a stalemate with the ‘Bridge exerting pressure on the D/B backs with Fionn Kelleher and Dara Nagle excelling in full back and half back positions keeping the ‘Bridge scoreless. Evan Murphy scored two more points from frees with the second one from a very tight angle out on the wing a cracker. With seven minutes left the ‘Bridge had cut the lead to four points and had momentum but they were finding it very difficult to break down an excellent D/B defence. They kept at it and as the game entered injury time they were awarded a free in midfield with Cian Fawl sending a high dropping ball into the D/B square. In the resulting scramble, Conor Murphy somehow managed to get the ball over the goal line for the ‘Bridge’s second goal to bring the deficit to just one point going into injury time. The ‘Bridge did have a chance late on to level from a free, but the effort went narrowly wide.

From the puck out the full time whistle sounded and St. Joseph’s Doora Bare field were Under 15A county champions, and on the balance of play over the hour they deserved it. Great credit must be given to the ‘Bridge lads for their second half comeback. However they have to ask themselves how they conceded the initiative to D/B for so long in this final, especially after getting a big wake up call from Ballyea only last Monday in the semi-final. Trying to claw back a 9 point lead with 20 mins left, to a team who were full value for that lead for the preceding 40 mins and playing well on the day, was just too big an ask.

For St. Joseph’s Doora Barefield, they were very strong up the middle with Fionn Kelleher, Dara Nagle, Matthew Power, Michael Nash, and Eoghan Talty excelling throughout.

For Sixmilebridge, Morgan O’Connell, Seamus O’ Connell and Colm and Noel Flynn showed great fight and leadership throughout this game, especially in the first half when the ‘Bridge were in serious trouble.

Sixmilebridge: Cian Fawl, Morgan O Connell, Seamus O Connell, Michael Carey, Colm Flynn, Evan Murphy 0-4, 0-3F, Colin Kelly, Oisin Breen, Scott Kirkland, David Kennedy 1-0, Cian Gleeson , Noel Flynn , Adam Murray, Luke O Halloran 0-4, 0-3F, Evan O Callaghan , Conor Murphy 1-0, Dara Casey.

St. Joseph’s Doora Barefield: Evan Creaven, Darragh McMahon, Fionn Kelleher, Senan Crosbie, Cian Lahiffe, Dara Nagle, Adrian Baker, Seamus Óg Enright, Matthew Power 0-2, Michael Nash 0-3, EoghanTalty 0-3, Luke Enright, Brian Hoey, Cian Moloney 1-0, Morgan Lahiffe 0-4, 0-4F.

Referee: Johnny Healy